To maintain the chill on a container, such as a wine bottle, the container frequently is placed in a bucket containing an ice and water mixture, before and/or after the container has been opened. There are disadvantages to the use of an ice bucket for chilling and maintaining the chill on a container. The bucket must be filled with ice, the ice and water must be disposed of, and the container comes out of the bucket dripping chilled water. Additionally, the ice bucket is usually much larger than the container; is frequently unstable and, if spilled, a mess results.
A clay bucket kept in a cool environment and/or soaked in chilled water is sometimes used to maintain the chill on a wine bottle. The clay bucket absorbs chilled water while in the cool damp environment. During use, the heat lost through evaporation in combination with the thermal mass of the bucket assist in maintaining the chill on the wine bottle. This method has a disadvantage in that the clay bucket must be kept in a chilled environment; the cooling contribution from the evaporation process varies with temperature and humidity; and the clay bucket may become wet and slippery from the condensation.
Marble buckets are also used. Marble like clay is porous. Because of the grain of certain natural marbles, marble buckets can be attractive. Before use the buckets are placed in a cool, damp environment. Water tends to collect in the interstices of the marble, and because of the high heat capacity of marble, the marble tends to maintain the chill. When it is desired to use the marble bucket to maintain the chill on a bottle of wine, the bucket is removed from the cool damp environment and a bottle of wine is placed in the bucket. Marble buckets have the disadvantage that they fracture easily and are heavy. If the marble bucket is used in a damp, moist environment, the exterior will becomes damp and slippery.
Several patents are directed to devices to assist in, or to establish the chill on a container, such as a bottle of wine. Henry de Toro and Eric Valle U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,381 entitled "COOLER ASSEMBLY" teaches a cooler assembly specifically contoured and designed to cool and maintain a bottled liquid at a lower than ambient temperature. The device of the '381 patent is essentially a sealed ice bucket. The '381 device is provided with insulating material and a cooling compartment. The cooling compartment extends into the interior of the the cooler assembly and is, in turn, provided with a compartment contoured to accommodate a bottle. The recommended coolant is water. The device can be either filled with chilled water, or filled with water at ambient temperature and then placed in a freezer or refrigerator. Although the device of the '381 patent overcomes some of the objections to the prior art ice bucket and the clay and marble buckets, the device of the '381 patent is bulky; relies on a water and/or water and ice; and, if used as suggested in the '381 patent, will require a significant amount of refrigeration space to prepare the cooler for use.
Frederick Lobl U.S. Pat. No. 2,496,296 entitled "PORTABLE REFRIGERATED CONTAINER" teaches a container which can be used to maintain the chill on any of a wide variety of items. The portable refrigerated container, or food cooling box, is comprised of a main box and at least one smaller removable container which can be arranged within the main box at the discretion of the user. The main box is provided with refrigerated walls. The container of the '296 patent is of a design similar to a variety of refrigerated containers such as the picnic containers produced by Igloo.TM.. Although the containers can keep a wide variety of foods, such as sandwiches and soft drinks, at a temperature less than ambient temperature for an extended period of time. The container of the '296 patent is not well suited for use in maintaining the chill on an open bottle of wine since during serving, the wine bottle is frequently placed into and removed from the container. Further, an open container such as taught in the '296 patent, which does not embrace the bottle, would not effectively impart a chill to the bottle. Therefore, a container such as taught in the '296 patent would be ineffective for imparting a chill to, or for maintaining the chill on a bottle which was intermittently placed in and taken out of the container.
The current invention does not rely on the use of ice and/or chilled water. The current device is well suited for intermittent use. In addition, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, means are provided to wipe the container as it is removed and to thereby reduce the tendency of a container to drip chilled water. The present invention is of a size and shape that can be readily stored and easily transported. The present invention overcomes a number of the disadvantages of prior art devices.